


Impossibilities

by BlackBurden



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Because I Can Never Seem To Be Creative With Him Damn it, Bird People, He's Precious, Hunting, Jake is a Hunter, M/M, Not-As-Foulmouthed Karkat, but that's okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2017-12-30 04:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1014245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBurden/pseuds/BlackBurden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>#Crappy title I know. I'm so uncreative.</p><p>You're a hunter, you've been one for years. You're only 18, but already out travelling the world and collecting its many treasures. But that's just it. They're treasures. However ... This time you might find the one treasure that's really worth it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ChibiEdo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiEdo/gifts).



> This was developed from an idea given to me by the amazing ChibiEdo! :3
> 
> Plot is still in the works, and as always when I write it will be further developed as we go. BUT I DO have the first few chapters already planned out!
> 
>  
> 
> NOTE:
> 
> I don't know much about Mendoza at all, so almost everything I write here will be PURELY FROM MY IMAGINATION. I won't do something silly like make flying fish, however. Just know that the scenery I describe, and the areas will not be on par with the place in all reality. I chose it simply because it follows the Andes Mountain Range and because the tallest mountain in South America is there. Aconcagua.
> 
> ALSO, while I DID do some research on hunting, NOT ALL OF THE INFO I FOUND IS BOUND TO BE RIGHT. Talk of guns, and of mountains are FROM RESEARCH ONLY, so don't be surprised if I somehow messed something up!
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, now that that's out of the way, enjoy~!

Your name is Jake English, and you’re a well-renowned hunter.

You love the thrill that comes with the hunt, watching an animal run, and even sometimes attack. You love to chase it, and shoot it down. You’re a master of the rifle. You’ve got several, but you’ve also got favorite guns for big and small game, being your 270 Winchester and .20 Caliber respectively.

You’d recently moved to Mendoza, Argentina in pursuit of more dangerous game hunting. With the Andes Mountain range just North of you, you’d be in the perfect place to hole up and prepare.

Today is your first day out since you’ve moved in. You’ve brought along both your 270 and your 20 Cal, just in case you come across any smaller game. You hunt alone. It had always been that way, and it always will be.

You hop out of your car at the entrance to the paths leading up into the mountains. Apparently many locals use these paths for hiking, riding, and others for hunting. You really hope you’ll come across the game you’re really here for.

Mountain Lions.

You’ve never faced a mountain lion before, since they’re rare enough, and you really hope to both see and snag one. While lions are the biggest of the wild cats, and you’ve taken down a few in your travels, you made the mistake of starting big. Now it feels like every kill is less significant. Less meaningful.

You pride yourself in the collection of teeth you’ve collected, however. You’ve got a collection for big cats, and it’s nearing completion. You’re only missing teeth from the snow leopard, and of course, the mountain lion.

You don’t hunt for the black market. Never have. No, you hunt for yourself. Over the years growing up, your father taught you how to win big in this business, but you didn’t follow in his tainted steps. You don’t want to break the law. Besides, you know that regular game hunting can get you big money anyway. What you’re doing now is just a dream you’re chasing.

When you realize you’d started daydreaming, you shake your head to come back to your senses and move to the trunk, grabbing both your rifles and slinging them over your shoulders. You shut the trunk and begin heading up the trail.

As you’re walking, you let your mind wander. Of course, you’d spent a few days in the town, listening to people talk. You wanted to know the secrets of this place. While you are a hunter, that’s only part of who you are. You’re a hunter second, and an adventurer first. Myths and legends, and tales of the vast appeal to you. You never pass up the chance for a good story.

You recall hearing something strange, about birds that are too big to be any known bird. While you aren’t a bird expert, you do find it strange that some people treasure the rare finding of a feather more than three feet in length, usually in colors and designs that have never before been recorded.

You, personally, have seen one of these treasured feathers, owned by a rather young bird-watcher in the city. He hadn’t exactly had the best of attitudes, but you forgot all about his sourness when you saw the feather. It was bright blue, vibrant, and had what appeared to be a swirling black, white, and darker blue pattern that faded towards the outer-most edges of the feather. Not only that, but it had to have been at least three and a half feet long. It was an absolutely massive feather. The owner claimed to have been given the feather from someone who found it up in the very trails you're travelling.

You wonder how expensive a feather like that would be.

A distant roar interrupts your thoughts, and you look up through the trees towards the mountains ahead. You grin, because now you know what you seek definitely thrives here.

.:~:.

You aren’t lucky.

The mountain lion you heard early that morning manages to elude you all day, despite your best efforts to find it. By the time the sun is setting, you’re already travelling back down the mountain. You know better than to be caught out here after dark.

The area is beautiful, you have to admit. The trees are green, there are flowers everywhere, and when the sun sets everything obtains a sort of golden glow. The natural world is something you’ll never get tired of seeing.

You decide against taking the paths back. You stay near enough to them that you’ll be able to find them, but you instead travel over the forest floor, enjoying the crisp mountain air and the sounds of various woodland creatures.

As you’re walking, a shadow passes over you and you look up, watching as a bird of some sort flies by high overhead. You think nothing of it, looking ahead again. A bright color, contrasting to the green environment, catches your eyes and you go over to a little stream.

Your eyes go wide as you spot what had attracted your attention.

A feather. A bright, orange and white feather. It’s bigger than the blue one; it must be at least four feet in length. You lean down, plucking the half-wet feather from the little stream.

There’s little white speckles along the bottom-most part of it, and four white, semi-jagged stripes at the tip. It’s fascinating, and you can’t believe you found such an item.

“Wow, Jake.” You say to yourself. “What luck!”

But you really have to wonder now. Where did this come from? Unless there were giant, monstrous birds that humanity has failed to document, then you’re really not sure what this could have come from.

You shrug a bit, deciding to think about it later, and continue on your way down the trail, feather in hand.

.:~:.

It’s a long drive home. It’s only an hour, but it feels longer. You keep glancing at the feather you’ve left on the passenger seat. It’s eating you alive, and your adventurous brain is beginning to make up ideas of what it came from. You imagine cats with wings, or giant, feathery squirrels. You decide that’s just silly.

Before heading home, you stop at a bar for a quick drink. You could really use one to end your uneventful day. You hide the feather in the trunk once you get there in case anyone peeking into the car should see it and decide they want it. Once you’ve double checked that the trunk is locked, you head inside. Well, it’s more of a club than a bar.

You don’t look at anybody, heading right up to the bar. You’re not legal drinking age yet, but you look it. Nobody has ever asked you for ID. You take an empty seat at the bar and order just a beer before sighing and resting your chin in the palm of your hand.

“I just can’t fucking seem to get enough of you, can I?”

A familiar voice makes you look to your left, where you quickly recognize the owner of the blue feather.

“Oh. Hey.” You greet. He’s got eyes that still make you wonder if he wears contacts. They’re red, but he insists they’re brown. You asked him before. His hair is still messy as when you met him, too.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you didn’t manage to catch anything today.” He chuckled as if that was funny. “Figures. You’re too young to have much experience in hunting.”

You don’t miss his sour attitude. Just to piss him off, you pull your tooth-necklace out from under your shirt and show him. “I killed each and every one of the owner’s of these by myself, thank you.”

He scoffs. “Yeah, sure, kid.”

Kid? He can’t be any older than you!

“And excuse you, but I DID find something today!” You shouldn’t tell him, but you do. Only because he might tell you something about the feather you found. You lean closer. “I found a feather.”

“Big whoop. A lot of birds live around here.”

“A feather like yours.”

You’re surprised as you see him visibly tense. That’s when you know he’s hiding something. He launches into a bombardment of questions. “Is it blue? Bigger than mine? Same design? Where did you find it?”

You hold up a hand and shake your head. “It’s ... orange.” You tell him. “And white. White speckles and stripes. I found it in a stream.”

He frowns, as if this bothers him. “Can I see it?”

“You gonna take it?” You ask suspiciously.

“No. It’s yours. I just want to see it.”

You nod, picking up the beer you hadn’t noticed was placed before you until you checked. “Just let me drink this.”

You drink it slowly, watching how he fidgets. He’s definitely hiding something. But what could it possibly be? When you do finish, he’s quick to get up. You set down some money, and then lead him out to your car, where you open the trunk.

You watch as he stares at the orange feather, then reaches and picks it up. He’s still frowning, and his eyebrows have knit together like he’s concentrating. Finally he puts the feather back.

“That’s impressive.” He says, not looking at you. “I wouldn’t advise trying to find the thing that dropped this. It may just kill you.”

“Do you know what dropped it?”

He shrugs after a minute. “I got mine years ago. It was ... a gift.” The way he says it is mysterious. You nod. He knows something. And one way or another, you’re going to find out what.


	2. Chapter Two

The next day, you head out early again. You’re going to catch that mountain lion. As before, you park your car, grab your rifles, then head up into the mountain. You spend the better part of the morning travelling, looking for any real signs of your target. It seems to be very good at eluding you.

You find tracks or remains here and there, but you can’t seem to find a solid trail. However, at least you now you’re in part of its territory range. At around noon, you stop to take a break. You eat a snack, and then you’re headed off again.

The afternoon is as uneventful as the day before.

At least, you thought so.

Just as you’re about to take another break around dinner-time, you find yourself near the trails again. And a familiar figure is almost running up the trail. You really should ask that boy’s name. But what’s he doing here? You know he’s a bird-watcher, but why does he look like he’s in a hurry.

Curious, you follow him. Maybe it has something to do with the mysterious way he was acting yesterday. For that reason, you stay out of sight, following at a distance, and among the trees.

You follow him for the better part of an hour, thanking your stamina for allowing you to keep up with him easily. He veers of the trail suddenly, much to your surprise. You continue to follow him.

The area you’re in has less trees now, and is more rocky. You have to put a lot of distance between you in order to stay hidden. He climbs to the top of a rocky rise, and you watch as he pulls a bright blue whistle out of his pocket. The sound it emits when he blows into it a moment later is high-pitch, and you listen to it echo off the mountains near you.

You wait for something to happen, but he just pockets the whistle and disappears over the top of the rise. What the Hell? What even was the point of the whistle? Ignoring it for now, you swiftly climb the hill just in time to see the boy disappear into the darkness of a cave.

Raising a brow, you sneak over to the entrance of the cave. It’s dark inside. How was he navigating? You pull a lighter out of your pocket, glad you keep it on you in case you ever need it, and bring up a flame before slowly heading into the dark.

Every step is careful. You don’t want to trip, or run into a wall. The path into the cave gets narrower and narrower the deeper you go. You’re a little baffled though, as you’re heading up.

A light appears ahead. It’s dim, like it’s coming from the next cavern over. You let the flame of your lighter die out as you approach the bend in the pathway. You turn the corner, but immediately hide behind the rock wall again.

You peak out, watching as the boy you’d been following is pacing around the well-lit cavern. There’s a hole leading to the outside world above, which explains the light.

A sudden gust and a flash of blue is all you see before you quickly duck behind the wall again, startled. You’re about to look out again, but the boy speaks.

“There you are!” The voice is closer than you expected it to be, and the slightest peak reveals that the boy you’d followed is no more than six feet from you. You return to hiding, listening. Who is he talking to?

“Hi, Karkat! What’s up? I heard you call.”

You blink. Who is THAT? How did they get in? As far as you can tell, there’s only one way- The hole in the roof. But that’s at least a twenty-foot drop. A drop like that would hurt a regular person.

“Yeah, yeah, good to see you again too. Look, I-“

“Aww, come on, Karkat! Can’t you at least ACT happy to see me? We haven’t spoken in months now!”

“John, you know I can’t risk coming up here during the summer. Too much activity, and someone could notice.”

“I know, I know.” Whoever was speaking sighed. You hear a sound then. A strange sound. A ... flutter of wings? You used to own a cockatiel as a kid, and you remember that distinct sound that feathers moving through the air make. “So, why are you here then?”

“I talked to a hunter yesterday.”

“So? Aren’t there a lot of hunters around this time?”

“Yeah, but he found a feather. Care to explain that?”

“What? There’s no way! Ever since what happened six years ago, we’ve retreated as far up the mountain as we can! None of us venture down this far! Heck, I’m breaking the rules by coming here to see you!”

“Are you SURE none of you have come this far down the mountain?”

“I swear, Karkat. Our leader has been pretty adamant about staying within our boundaries.”

It was quiet for a moment, and then that boy, -Karkat?- finally sighed. “Alright. But just so you know, the feather he showed me was orange.”

“Orange? Great. I guess I know who it is then.”

“You do? How? Who?”

“Orange isn’t a common wing color. Common colors are browns, grays, and black and white. Any other color is usually more rare. Blue, for example. Anyway, yeah, I know who it was. You don’t know him, so I’ll spare you the details. But don’t worry, Karkat, I’ll take care of it. The leader’s gonna be so mad ...”

“Because you slipped away?”

“No. Because one of us has broken the rules. Really! You know you’re a friend to us!”

“Yeah, I know. I just forget that sometimes, since we’re so different.”

“Hehe, you’re silly.”

“You’re a dork.”

It’s quiet for a minute, and then the unknown boy speaks. “I’m being called back. Sorry, Karkat. Looks like I have to go. I’ll never hear the end of it if I’m not back before dinner.”

“That’s alright. It’s almost winter, so the tourists should be leaving in a few weeks. We’ll be able to talk more after that.”

“I look forward to it. Bye, Karkat!”

You hear that flutter of wings again, and a swooshing sound, and then it’s quiet. You hear Karkat sigh, and then footsteps, which prompt you to immediately scoot back into a little crevice behind you.

He’s traveled through this cave enough times to be able to navigate it in the dark, it seems, since he passes right by you. You wait until you can’t hear his footsteps anymore, and then slip into the more well-lit cavern.

You stare at the ground.

There are blue feathers on the ground.

.:~:.

You stay there for a while, but eventually you leave. Your trek back down the mountain is slow, as you’re lost in thought and wondering who Karkat had been talking to. From the brief glimpse you’d seen of the room, there hadn’t been feathers. You would have noticed such a bright color amongst all the gray and brown of rock, and even with the little bits of greenery that grew in the cavern.

This is all just so confusing, and you start to get a headache. But you want to know. More than ever, you want to know. The idea that there is a creature with feathers that big is starting to seem more real by the second. And apparently they can speak English, too.

You eventually reach your car, and you head home. You go straight home, not trusting yourself to try and confront Karkat yet. You may let something slip.

You pull into the driveway of your apartment, which you got only because it wasn’t worth buying a house when you wouldn’t be staying for more than a month or so. After turning off the care, you just sit there for a minute, thinking.

When you do head into the house, you decide to skip dinner. You’re exhausted. Your plain, simple room now has a spot of color, since you’d put the orange feather you found on the wall. You go over, staring at it.

‘Who are you?’ You wonder. ‘What are you?’

Thinking really isn’t your style. You’re more of an action guy. You turn away after a few minutes, heading to your bed. You shuck off your clothes and just drop onto the mattress, curling up under the blankets.

You decide then that maybe your search for the mountain lion will have to wait.

Your new quest is to find who, or at least what, owns the orange feather.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter we see from Dirk's point of view! :D
> 
> Next chapter goes back to Jake, so enjoy this!
> 
> We'll see more from Dirk in the future, though.

You’re suddenly the owner of a pair of orange and white wings. Your name is Dirk.

You’re currently sitting on a rock near a little pond, watching as your brother frolics in the water. He looks stupid, but you know he really likes the water, so you don’t care. He’s not the only one in the pond. There’s also a few of the other members of your flock.

A hand lands on your shoulder and you look up casually into a pair of blue eyes.

“Aww, darn it!” The owner of the blue eyes whines. “How come I can never manage to scare you?”

“Because you’re louder than a herd of elephants, John.” You answer calmly, going back to looking at your brother.

“You don’t even know what an elephant sounds like!”

“And you do?”

“Dirk, we’ve been over this. I know what many strange animals sound like! You wouldn’t even know there WAS a creature called an elephant if it wasn’t for me!”

“Didn’t your strange human friend tell you about elephants?” You ask, not looking at him and his strange, square eye-things. He says they’re ‘glasses’ and he says they help him see. He treasures them, because apparently his human gave them to him.

“Karkat isn’t strange!” John practically barks at you. He reminds you of a fox. So much yipping. So talkative. “He’s amazing! And yes, he DID tell me about elephants.” He says matter-of-factly.

“Whatever.” You say, uninterested.

You can practically feel John’s seething. He hates it when anybody brushes off talk of his human friend. You can’t really blame him. His human friend practically saved his life.

“Fine. Since you’re so crabby today, I guess I’ll just go talk to Dave!” He huffs and walks past you, blue feathers brushing your cheek as he passes. “Oh and by the way, you’re banned from leaving the roost for a few days.”

You groan. Lovely ... You explore the lower half of the mountains just once, and you get in trouble for it. While John isn’t the boss of you, you know that if David decrees something, you best believe it. And you know John can’t lie, so therefore you know that those words came from David. Beautiful.

Irritated, you watch as your brother’s idiot of a friend joins him in the water, not taking off his clothes. It’s so weird to you that he doesn’t. Before he met his human friend, he’d never cared before. But now he never takes his clothes off around anybody.

You don’t understand why. What’s there to hide? Sure, you wear clothes as well, but you have no qualms about taking them off to bathe, either alone or with anyone else in your flock. Nobody else does either. It’s just a body.

But John insists that it makes him uncomfortable because ‘Karkat says people don’t take off their clothes around others’. You don’t care what Karkat says. You will continue to live how you’ve lived all your life. Clothes are to keep you warm, nothing else.

You get up, walking away from the pond and the mini water-fall that makes it. The noise of your flock-mates at the pond is left behind as you head away, approaching the edge of the cliff that is your home. You look out at the valleys below you, spreading your wings. John says you’re confined to the roost, but you know you can sneak away. Who’s going to stop you?

“Going somewhere?”

You freeze. Right. David’s going to stop you.

“Nope. Just stretching my wings and catching the breeze.” You lie.

“Dirk, I’m not newborn chick. I can see you were about to take off.”

You turn away from the cliff edge, facing your leader. His bright, golden eyes are the first thing you see. Actually, they’re the only thing you see, sine you refuse to back down from your stare-off.

“John says you were down at the bottom of the mountain.” David says after a bit.

“So what if I was?” You respond. The two of you had always had a sort of rivalry. You would be leading the flock if it weren’t for the fact that David had beaten you in the fight for dominance.

“Dirk, you know we can’t go that far down the mountain this time of the season-cycle. There are hunters.”

“I can take care of myself!” You snap, glaring.

“It’s not you I’m worried about.” He says, and you’re not sure whether that should hurt or not. “I’m worried you might accidentally lead them here. We were lucky that Karkat returned John to us. He is a good human. But not all humans are. John has said that Karkat tells him most humans are selfish and greedy. If we were found, we may not end up dead, but we would be taken from our home. Our family would be torn apart. That’s why we moved up the mountain to begin with, remember?”

“I’m not some sly little she-cat who would deliberately lead a hunter to us!”

“I never said you would do it on purpose.” David sighs. “Look, Dirk. I know there’s no point in punishing you. You won’t face the consequences of your actions anyway. But please, stay away from the base of the mountains. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Fine! If you think I’m such a hassle, maybe I’ll just leave!”

“Dirk-“

“Leave me alone!”

Without giving him a chance to respond, you dive off the cliff, wings spreading to catch the air currents and lift you up. You need to cool off; you feel like you’re going to explode.

.:~:.

Your evening is nothing but aerial acrobatics and the most dangerous of stunts only a flier could perform. You’re just so frustrated with David. So incredibly angry with him. He thinks he knows everything. He’s been holding his status above your head since he became leader. He’s taunting you with it.

Well you’ll show him! One of these days you’ll challenge him, and you’ll beat him fair and square, and then you’ll do to him what he’s doing to you. The roles will reverse.

Eventually the moon rises, and its serene light calms you down. You’ve always been more of a night-bird than a day-bird. You like to think you’re special that way.

Your wings carry you far South of your roost. You’re exhausted from the hours you spent releasing all your pent-up rage, but you don’t want to descend to the ground yet.

So instead you allow the air currents to take you where they please. It takes little to no effort to glide on the wind, flapping your massive wings every now and then to keep you steady.

You sigh softly, looking at the moon, big and bright in the sky. There’s a lake just ahead, and you head over, flying down and landing easily on the ground beside the water. The peaceful sounds of night bring a little smile to your face.

You can hear frogs croaking, splashes from the fish in the lake, and there’s even an owl nearby, hooting softly in the night. Feeling much better than earlier, you head to the edge of the lake and sit on the bank where it extends out towards the middle of the body of water, almost like a little pathway. You sit down, letting your toes drag in the cold water.

The chill of the lake reminds you that soon it will be winter, the end of the season-cycle for this year. In the winter, you take pride in being one of the best hunters. Since there are no plants bearing the fruit your flock relies on during the warmer seasons, you instead turn to what little meat you can find. You can usually take down a small deer on your own, which is enough to feed all of you for a few days.

John gets help from his human friend, too. Often times he’ll disappear for a few hours before returning with what he calls ‘bags’, and they’re filled with various foods. Usually fruits that somehow taste a little funny, but are safe to eat nonetheless.

Despite not liking Karkat that much, you have to admit he really is a huge help in the winter. If it weren’t for him, half of your flock would starve during the cold seasons.

You wonder if the neighbooring wolves or lions will have young this year. You hope not. Just a few days ago you lost one of your own to the sabre who roams the mountains. You really wish there was some way to get rid of the giant cat, but you know even with the whole flock, you lack the power to defeat such a foe.

There’s suddenly a fluttering of wings and you look over your shoulder a moment at the other who just landed behind you. When you see it’s not David, you relax and go back to looking at the water, kicking your feet a little.

“Yo.” Your brother says, coming up to sit beside you, also dipping his own toes into the water.

“Hey.” You say back, amused. Your brother and you are close. You share a special bond, and you’re always able to locate one another, no matter how far away you are.

“David mentioned you two got into a fight.”

“Yeah.”

You look over at you brother, spotting some loose feathers in his bright red wings. You turn a little bit, plucking at them. He doesn’t mind. He’s molting early, losing all his summer feathers and growing in thicker, longer winter ones.

“I went further down the mountain than I should have.” You mutter as you’re preening your brother’s wings. He sighs softly, enjoying it. “John squealed on me, the little rat.”

“John’s just looking out for you.”

“I guess ... David told me I don’t face my consequences.”

“Well, you don’t usually. But you also almost never get in trouble.”

“Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, brother.” You say sarcastically, not stopping as you run your fingers through Dave’s feathers, helping to loosen and remove any clinging dirt he didn’t manage to get out during his bath earlier.

“You’re so welcome.”

You go quiet then, and focus on your brother. He’s always been there for you. You know you can count on him for anything. He’s your best friend, and you love him. You know he feels the same; you don’t need to ask.

Eventually, one you’ve plucked all the loos feathers from Dave’s wings, he stretches his arms over his head. “We should be getting back. Everyone’s probably in their nests by now.”

“Yeah.” You agree, despite wanting to just stay out here and enjoy the night longer. Dave gets up, and you follow him.

It doesn’t take long for the two of you to fly back to your roost. Just as you predicted, it was quiet when you returned. You head into the cave near the pond where all the nests are, and you flop down in the one you share with Dave. You doubt you’ll ever have separate nests.

Your nest is composed of the softest of moss and the down feathers you and your brother shed when you were little, and is a typical bowl-shape. Like most bird nests. John, in the nest next to you, has what he calls a ‘blanket’. He says they’re very warm, and comfortable, and not too long ago he promised to ask Karkat for more. Having such an item would be useful for the winter season.

Dave lays down next to you, and you cuddle up together.


	4. Chapter Four

You’re Jake again, and you’ve just gotten the most brilliant scheme.

It’s been three days since you eavesdropped on Karkat in the cave in the mountains. You’d stayed away from there, instead focusing on Karkat. You don’t outright ask him who he’d been talking to; you know that will just piss him off and he won’t tell you anything.

So instead you watch him for a few days.

It surprises you that you quickly fall into the role of a predator, stalking your prey. Stalking other people seems to be no different than as if you were tracking a buck through the forest. You know all the moves, you know how you play your cards right.

You’re just waiting for him to let his guard down so you can snatch that whistle from him.

That’s right. Your genius idea is to call that person to you, rather than go on a wild goose chase looking for him. But you’d put two and two together, and you know you need that whistle to summon him.

You find yourself at the bar again, sitting at a table across the room from Karkat, who appears to be asleep. You know it’s horrible of you, but when he was distracted by someone else, you slipped something into his drink. It wouldn’t harm him, only make him drowsy.

You’re waiting.

Finally, you watch as he moves a bit, resting his head on his arms. That’s your queue. You get up from the table you’d been sitting at, practically gliding over. After careful observation of Karkat for a few day, you’d found that he keeps that whistle on him at all time. All you have to do is cut the string around his neck.

You do so as discretely as you can, and immediately back away. Nobody seems to pay any attention to you as you promptly leave.

Outside, the sun has already set. But with the bright blue whistle now in your possession, you know it’s only a matter of time before you find out what’s been plaguing your thoughts ever since you found that orange feather.

.:~:.

You don’t sleep well that night, too anxious.

You’re wide awake when the sun begins to rise, not even hesitating to get into your car and drive off. The mountains come closer and closer, and you’re more excited every second. But you will yourself to relax, take your time.

Soon enough you’re heading up the mountain, rifles left in the car. You don't need them today. You follow the same path Karkat took those days ago, and you finally find yourself at the top of that rise.

You look at the blue whistle, take a deep breath, then blow into it. The sound is shrill and a little painful on your ears, but you make sure it lasts long enough to definitely be heard over a long distance.

You go into the cave, following the only path inside until you reach the cavern you had heard Karkat in. You don’t go inside, instead staying in the shadows. Nothing happens for a long time. When it’s bordering twenty minutes, you’re almost ready to blow the whistle again. Until you see a shadow pass over the hole in the ceiling.

You hear a soft thud of something landing just above, and watch as a head pokes in from the ceiling. You stare, baffled. It’s ... just a boy? Damn. Your hopes drop. This is just some kid exploring the woods. He must have stumbled upon the cave.

Now you wonder what you did wrong. Maybe you hadn’t blown the whistle right. The way Karkat had done it seemed so simple, but maybe there was a trick to it. Now that you think about it, it makes sense. There had to be a trick. Anybody could blow a whistle, but somehow that other person had known that it was Karkat.

You watch as the kid disappears, sighing quietly.

After a minute you decide to give up, shrugging and tossing the whistle into the cavern. Should Karkat come looking for it, he’ll find it here. You backtrack.

.:~:.

The day is still young, so you decide to do some hunting.

You grab your rifles from the car, and then you’re back up in the trails. Your hopes rise as you find a solid trace of the mountain lion, and you follow tracks. They lead to a small cave. It’s not even big enough for the shadows to consume any part of it. There are remains of small animals all over the place. You know you’ve found its den.

It’s not here.

You hide, and you wait. You know the chances of it returning are slim, as it has a whole mountain range as its territory and could be holed up anywhere, but you hope maybe you’ll get lucky.

You’re still sitting there in hiding when suddenly you hear a deep growling sound. You tense, immediately spinning around. Your eyes go wide as the very animal you’re tracking is crouched on a tall rock just behind you. Its ready to pounce.

For a moment, nothing moves. You’re at a standstill, but then you’ve grabbed your 270 Winchester. You don’t have time to aim. Not when it could quite literally kill you in an instant. You raise the gun and shoot, just as the cat rises to its massive paws.

The bullet misses, hitting the rock just below its paws. Sand and small parts of the rock fly everywhere from the impact.

The most miraculous thing happens.

The cat turns and runs off, scared from its perch.

You move to follow it, but you watch as it disappears into the undergrowth.

You deflate, gasping and practically collapsing onto the ground. Despite the terror of what had just happened, you grin. Wow, what a rush!

.:~:.

You’re suddenly Dirk again, and you’re sitting outside the cave where the nests are. The sun is starting to set. You yawn, bored, and stretch a bit, wings spreading out and fluttering a little before tucking back in against your back and sides once more.

Your eyes lift up to the sky and you watch as your brother flies by overhead, landing a few feet in front of you and then moving to flop down beside you. “Long day, huh?” He asks, picking at the red feathers of his wings.

You shrug. “Not really. Just lame and boring.”

“You’re always bored.” Dave comments, nudging you. You huff at him and look up at the clouds. Just as you’re about to make some sort of snide retort, you hear a scream.

You’re on your feet in an instant, catching a terrified, cyan-winged girl in your arms. “Jane?” You question. “Jane, what’s wrong?”

“There’s a-“ Before she can fully answer you, a ball of fur seems to come flying through the air from above. You jump out of the way and Jane follows. In the spot you’d just been standing in, the infamous sabre is crouched, tail lashing furiously as she failed to catch anything.

Your eyes dart around. Dave. Is Dave okay? When you see him standing before John, who is covered in blood, you know he’s the next target.

“John distracted it while I got away!” Jane gasps. You glance at her. She looks horrified.

The sabre turns, spotting Dave and John, who has an arm wrapped around his waist and is only half-standing. You’re about to dive at the cat to distract it when a familiar golden shape darts past you, more or less barrelling into the huge cat.

David sends the cat skidding across the rock and grass, claws flailing. He’s hovering just above the ground, wings flapping to keep him airborne. “Dave, get John out of here!”

Dave doesn’t need to be told twice as he practically picks up his friend and jumps off the nearby cliff ledge with him. John’s the lightest of all of you. You know Dave will be alright carrying him.

“Jane, go with them! John needs your healing knowledge!”

“Y-yes!” Jane flies away from you, heading over the edge of the cliff and down, out of sight.

“Go, Dirk!”

You look at David, who has to jump aside as the sabre launches at him. Even as he flies up and out of the way, her claws catch his leg, leaving a wide gash across his skin.

“No, David.” You answer, flying over towards him. “The others need you to guide them. I’ll deal with her.” And you grab a rock.

“Dirk-“

“Hey, sabre!” You yell, throwing the rock at her. It hits her in the head, and she’s only further infuriated. She’s focused on you now. You swallow your own fear and quickly soar over her, staying slow enough for her to give chase and not lose interest.

“Damn it, Dirk! Don’t die!”

You look back to see the last of his golden feathers disappearing over the cliff.

You can’t make any promises.


	5. Chapter Five

You are once again Jake, and you’re currently skulking about in the lower mountains. Ever since your run-in with the mountain lion, you’ve refocused your attention on hunting her down.

And damn it, you will get her.

It’s been two days since you were last up here, and that was when you had stolen Karkat’s whistle. You hope he found it again. You shrug your shoulder a bit to reposition your rifle, jumping over the little stream that had been blocking your path.

Come to think of it, this is where you’d found the orange feather. Your eyes stare at the water, reflecting little bits of sunlight. What dropped that feather? You’re at a loss still, but you think Karkat’s friend might hold the key.

Too bad you couldn’t seem to find him.

A twig snapping drags you out of your daydreaming and in two seconds you have your 270 Winchester in your hands, aiming towards where the sound came from. You pause though, when you see bright orange ... feathers? They’re sticking out of a bush.

Curious, you lower your rifle and slowly walk over, reaching to touch the feathers, only the tips of which are sticking out among the leaves. You grab one and give a little tug ... and get a yelp.

That’s not expected. Baffled, you let go of the feathers and reach instead for the bush, pushing the leaves aside. The figure that you find hidden among the leaves is surprisingly human, with blond hair and orange eyes. But you stare at the orange feathers that are attached to a wing which is, in turn, attached to the figure’s back.

You just ... stare. And he stares back, wide-eyed and obviously terrified. When you come to your senses, you slowly put down your rifles, then hold out a hand to the boy in the bush.

He stares at it, and then after a minute he cautiously reaches out and grabs it. You guide him out into the open, observing him. His wings are huge, and downright gorgeous. Never in your wildest dreams would you have thought it possible for a human to have wings.

He’s got his wings tucked close against his back and sides, but from your position you can see one wing is stained in a bright red substance. You quickly realize that it’s blood.

“Oh, you’re hurt.” You say. He flinches, and backs away from you a bit. “I won’t hurt you!” You tell him, giving a little smile. “Um, do you maybe want some help with your ... wing?” It sounds so weird to say.

He doesn’t move for a minute, until finally he stretches out the bloody wing a bit, wincing at the movement. You realize two things. One, that it‘s the wing you’d tugged earlier, and two, that it looks like he got into a tussle with an animal with big claws. You can clearly see the jagged lines running from the elbow-joint of the wing and down through the feathers. Most of the blood is dried, but some of it is still leaking out a bit.

You step forward to examine the wing for him. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s crippling or infected. “Okay, I can help you, but I need you to come down to my car, okay? I have a first-aid kit there.”

He nods after a minute, looking puzzled, and tucks his wing in again. You give him a little smile and then turn to lead him away, grabbing your rifles. You look back to make sure he’s following every now and then, too.

Finally, you reach your car. The boy with wings stays hidden between some trees while you grab the first-aid kit, and you then go back to him. You set the little kit down and open it up, grabbing the bottle of antiseptic and a cloth you’d thrown in there.

You motion the boy closer and he sits before you, since you’re knelt down. He lets his wing out, and you move over. After pouring some of the peroxide onto the cloth, you reach up and lightly press the cloth to one of the deep, jagged claw marks. He hisses and flinches back a bit, but you gently grab his wing to keep it still, continuing to dab at the wounds.

It takes some time, but eventually you’ve cleaned him up. You grab the first-aid kit and take out a roll of bandages. It’s awkward to try and wrap. You end up having to put his wing against his side and wrapping the bandages from his wing all around his waist. Thankfully you have a lot, so this is a task you can complete. He doesn’t seem to mind.

You smile once you’re done, examining your handiwork before finally nodding. “There you go.” You say, packing up the kit. You wonder where he came from, how he got hurt, if there are more like him, and if he can even talk.

“Thank you.”

That answers that.

“It’s fine.” You smile at him. “So, um, if you don’t mind my asking, what happened to you?”

He looks cautious for a minute, but then seems to deflate. “My flock was attacked by the sabre. I led it away, but got hurt in the process.”

“Your flock? So there’s more like you?”

“... Yes.” He seems almost nervous about telling you these things. You decide to halt on the questions for now, to avoid scaring him.

“So, I guess you’ll be going home now?”

“I can’t.”

This makes you frown. “Why not?”

“Wing. Can’t fly back.”

For a minute you’re quiet, unsure what to do, but then you tentatively speak again. “Well ... I can’t just let you stay out here. It gets cold at night. So maybe you wouldn’t mind coming home with me for a while? Until your wing heals?”

He frowns a bit, and shifts on his feet. You’re positive he’s going to say no, but to your surprise, he nods after a long time of thought. You give him a smile once more, check that no one’s watching, and then lead him to your car. It’s hard getting him in the front seat. He sot of has to bend over a bit and sit on the very edge in order to fit because of his wings.

You throw a blanket over him to conceal him from peering eyes and then shut his door, going to get in on the driver’s side. You start up the car, looking at him. He’s staring at the blanket, fingers playing with the corner and a look of awe on his face. Does he not know what a blanket is ...? Then again, you suppose he probably doesn’t.

As you’re driving away, you catch him continuously glancing out the window, back the way you came. It must be hard for him to leave his home. So with one hand on the steering wheel, you let the other reach over and lightly rub his shoulder through the blanket.

He jumps a bit, having not been paying attention to you, but then relaxes again. “It’ll be okay.” You promise him.

The look he gives you tells you that he believes you.


	6. Chapter Six

It’s an hour and a half before you arrive home. Once you pull into the driveway, you shut off the car and turn to the bird-boy you have yet to ask the name of. “Hey.” You say, reaching over and lightly shaking his shoulder. He had dozed off long ago, probably exhausted.

He lifts his head quickly, looking at you. He seems panicked a moment before remembering where he is. “We’re here.” You tell him, then open the car door and get out. He does the same, keeping the blanket over his shoulders and wings as he follows you to the door, and then inside.

You shut the door, and then reach to take the blanket from him. He steps out of the way. You’re puzzled, but decide to let him keep it. “This is my home.” You tell him instead. “Make yourself comfortable. Anything here you’re welcome to.” You kick off your shoes. He watches you, then follows you as you head down the hall.

You stop by the bathroom, thinking. “Hey, why don’t you take a shower?” You suggest once you see he’s following you. He tilts his head. “Uh ... A bath? But with water falling down on you?”

His eyes clear and you see he gets it. He nods. You bring him into the bathroom and turn the water on, showing him the hot and cold knob and which way to turn them, and then leave him be.

While he’s showering, you decide to make something to eat. Once in the kitchen, you go to the fridge and open it up. Silently, you wonder what kinds of things he eats. He’s part bird, so you wonder if maybe he’s a vegetarian? Or maybe he eats fish. You have trout in the fridge that you’d bought yesterday. Maybe you’ll cook that. Yeah, you’ll cook that.

You go about heating the oven and readying the fish while the bird-boy is showering. It’s not until you’ve put the fish in, gotten some rice out to cook last minute, and then waited a half hour that the boy finally emerges from the bathroom, blanket once again around his shoulders. His hair and feathers are damp, and there’s a warm, rosy color to his skin. He looks content.

“Hey.” You greet him from where you’re sitting on the couch, lounging. “Dinner’s cooking. Should be another half hour or so.” You watch him as he comes around the couch and sits beside you, not looking at you. “So ... What’s your name?” You ask, since it’s about time you do.

“... Dirk.”

You give him a smile. “I’m Jake.”

“You’re a hunter.”

You nod. “I hunt big-game, but I came here to hunt a mountain lion for a tooth to add to my collection.” You tell him, hoping to assure him you aren’t here to hurt his kind. He seems to understand.

“I hope you kill it.” He says.

“Kill what?”

“The sabre.” He’s frowning now, looking down at his lap. “It’s killed off half my flock over just the past season. I’m lucky it didn’t get me.”

You reach over and lightly pet his back between his wings. He practically melts into the touch, to your surprise. You say nothing about it. “I can sure try.” You offer, referring to the mountain lion.

His only response is a nod. You keep rubbing his back, since he seems to enjoy it, and you two stay that way for some time until you hear the stove beep in the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready.” You tell him, getting up.

You go to the kitchen, quickly throw the rice on, and then get the fish from the oven. The smell of it seems to have attracted Dirk since you just finished dishing it, and the finished rice once it was done, out when you turn and see him standing in the doorway.

“Come on. Sit down.” You tell him, grabbing the plates and forks before going over to the table. He sits beside you, and you set his plate before him. He stares at the fork, baffled.

You don’t comment as you instead grab yours and stab a piece of the fish with it, eating it. He mimics you, seeming to get it, and you watch as his face lights up when he takes a bite of the trout. You smile, and the two of you eat in silence.

Dirk devours his plate in a matter of five minutes and you give him seconds, since he seems so hungry.

With dinner out of the way, you go back to the living room and turn on the TV to watch for a bit. You just leave it on the news, since there’s nothing else on. But Dirk is captivated by the TV, staring at it and the reporter who’s talking about a forest fire in somewhere you don’t care about.

The avian-boy sits beside you, eyes still glued on the TV. You start to doze off after a while, the day’s exciting events having worn you out. Soon enough, you’ve fallen asleep leaning against the arm-rest of the couch.

.:~:.

When you wake up the next morning, it’s to find a comfortable weight against your side. You look over and see the bird boy from yesterday -the memory came back in a rush- and you give a little smile, lightly petting his hair. He mumbles a little, but goes back to sleep.

For a while you just stay there, petting Dirk’s hair. But a knocking at the door distracts you. You get up, which is a task since you want to avoid waking Dirk, and go to answer it.

You’re surprised to find Karkat there. You’re glad to see the blue whistle is back around his neck. “Hey.” He greets, sounding slightly upset. “Do you know how hard it was to find your address? Sheesh.”

“Uh, not really? Anyway, what’s up?”

“I wanted to talk to you about that feather.” He says, and seems resigned about it. You glance over your shoulder, wondering if maybe he knows Dirk, then let him in. You figure he DEFINITELY knows something about Dirk’s people.

“Look, I just wanted to tell you that the feather, well ... God, you won’t believe me.”

You chuckle and grab his wrist, dragging him over to the couch. He looks down at Dirk, then at you, then at Dirk, then back at you.

“What the Hell?!” He exclaims. Dirk jumps up in the process, eyes wide as he stares at Karkat.

“It’s okay, Dirk.” You tell him. “I think Karkat knows about you.”

Dirk looks at you, then at Karkat. “Karkat? John’s Karkat?”

Karkat nods a bit. “How is he?” He asks, to your surprise. They seem to know each other.

“I don’t know.” Dirk answers, frowning. “He was hurt by the sabre. It looked bad. I don’t know if he’s okay.”

Karkat frowns, looking deeply worried by this, and sighs. “Well, I guess I’ll have to wait and see ... What about you? What happened to your wing?”

Dirk looks at his wing, then at Karkat. “I distracted it. Lead it away.”

Karkat nods.

You finally pipe up. “You two know each other?”

“No.” Karkat answers you first. “But John says the flock knows all about me. That’s why he knew who I was.”

“So ... What are you to them?”

“A friend.” He answers, chuckling. “I saved John years ago, much like you’re doing with Dirk now. I bring them things all the time. Like in the winter I give them food to help them get by.”

“Ah I see.” You nod.

Karkat sighs. “Well, that’s all I wanted, I guess. I was going to tell you about them, but you seem to already know.” He turns and heads towards the door. “I’ll be keeping in touch.”

He leaves without giving you a chance to respond.

What an odd guy ...

You look at Dirk, who rubs at his eyes tiredly still.

“So ... Hungry?” You ask, grinning a little.

He nods, yawning. “Yes.”

You set about getting breakfast.


	7. Chapter Seven

Oh look, you’re suddenly Dirk!

You’re currently eating ‘toast’. The name sounds weird, but it tastes good so you don’t care. It’s got this fruity stuff on it that tastes like strawberries. You really like it! If you could eat this stuff every day, you certainly would.

Jake’s sitting across the table from you, giving you a weird look. You finally swallow the last of the toast and tilt your head. “What?” You ask.

“Your clothes.” He says. “They’re all dirty and torn.”

You frown, looking down at your clothes. Your once white shirt is now brown, and your pants are all torn. What’s the big deal? You shrug, but he ignores it and gets up. “Come on.” He says, heading out of the room.

You follow him, and he takes you to a room with structures you’ve never seen before. But one of them has blankets on it, so you go over and flop down, careful of your wings. Holy shit it’s comfy. You could just fall asleep right here ...

But Jake’s voice bring you back and you sit up. He’s holding out a shirt for you. “I think we’re about the same size, so this should fit.” He’s saying. You look at the item, take it, then pull your own shirt off to replace it.

You will never hate the feeling of new, clean clothes.

Soon he’s handed you pants. You stand up to pull your own off as Jake turns to look for spares. You slide the new clothing on, feeling better, and look down at yourself. Your shirt is white, and has a weird shape thing on it. It’s orange though, so you like it. Your pants are black, which you also like.

When Jake turns back to you, it’s to walk past you and set a few more pairs of clothes on the bed. “There.” He finally says. “You can have those.” He then goes over to his dresser again, cleaning out a drawer. “This drawer will be yours until you leave.”

Leave. You’ve gotten so caught up in the pleasantries of human-life that you forgot that leaving is a thing you’ll eventually have to do. You frown a little, suddenly missing your brother, and your flock as a whole, terribly.

You wonder if they’re alright, how they’re faring. The sabre could be after them again, and have no way of knowing. You decide not to think about it and just focus on getting better.

.:~:.

The sun is setting that night, your second night at Jake’s home. You sit in the living room and watch the sun set through the window, sighing softly. Jake went to bed early, so you’re left to sit awake and wait for the moon to come out.

You’re starting to feel restless from being trapped inside so long, but you count your blessings. At least you’re warm, fed, and safe. Your wing’s feeling a little better now too, healing slowly.

You’re torn between wanting it to heal faster and wanting it to heal slower. You like it here. It’s nice. But mostly, you like Jake. He’s been so kind to you. He helped you when you needed it, and he invited you into his life. Part of you doesn’t want to leave, but you know where you belong. And it’s not here.

You sigh, realizing you’d started daydreaming. The moon has risen. It’s dark, and even though you have a blanket, you can’t sleep. You’re so used to having Dave by your side at night that trying to sleep without the warmth of another body is next to impossible.

You wonder if maybe Jake wouldn’t mind sleeping with you ...

Getting up, you walk quietly to his room. The door is open, so you walk in. You can hear him breathing evenly in his sleep. He seems to be slumbering peacefully. You creep over to his odd nest and slowly crawl up onto it. You slip under the blankets, curling up against Jake’s back.

It’s only once you’re finally settled that he moves, rolling over to face you. “Hey.” He says, voice thick with sleep. “You okay?”

“Can’t sleep.” You murmur quietly. He doesn’t say anything as he instead drapes an arm over your waist, shifting closer. You find yourself in the perfect position to tuck your head under his chin, so you do.

You close your eyes, content, and hear him yawn. “Night, Dirk.”

“Night.” You whisper back.

You manage to fall asleep quickly without the cold biting at your skin, and without the fear of possibly being mauled in your sleep.

.:~:.

You’re Jake and you’ve just woken up.

You find yourself cuddled up with Dirk, who is breathing softly against your neck. You shiver a little as it tickles a bit, but don’t move. You know he’s been so tired since you found him, and that was only a few days ago. You wonder how long he was out in the woods, bleeding and staying awake for fear of being killed.

You move the arm around his waist, hand coming up to play with his hair a little. He makes a small sound, but doesn’t otherwise wake up. You decide maybe a few more hours of sleep won’t kill you.

.:~:.

When you wake up again, Dirk isn’t in bed anymore. You get up, worried, and scramble around the house until you find him in the kitchen, eating toast. You sigh in relief. “Toast again, huh?”

Dirk looks up, gives you a nod, then goes back to eating.

You go over to the fridge, pouring a glass of apple juice and going to him, setting it on the table before him. “Drink that. It’s good for you.” He looks at it, picks up the glass, and sniffs the contents before finally taking a sip. He blinks in surprise, then quickly drinks more of it. He’s smiling.

You decide that you need to give him apple juice more often.


	8. Chapter Eight

You are suddenly a bird-boy with elegant blue feathers.

Your mind is fuzzy. You’re having trouble remembering where you are, and why you’re there. There’s a voice calling out to you, but you can’t place it or tell who it belongs to.

Consciousness is slipping away from you again.

.:~:.

“John ... John ... Come on, wake up!”

Your blue eyes slowly flutter open, and you find yourself staring at a dark grayish-brown ceiling. It’s warm around you, and there seems to be an orange glow that’s dancing across the ceiling. You turn your head a little, staring into a fire.

“John? You with me?”

You groan quietly, looking to the one who’d spoke. “Ugh, Dave, shut up. You’re so loud.” You mutter, voice feeling thick and funny. You wonder if you’re sick.

Dave sighs in what you guess is relief; it’s hard to tell with that guy. “Good to see you’re still here. We thought we were gonna lose you for a while.”

“... Lose me?” You try to sit up, but a pain in your side makes you yelp and fall back down.

“Try not to move.” Dave says, glaring at you and daring you to. You don’t. “The sabre attacked, remember?”

You blink, and it comes rushing back. You protecting Jane, and then Dave taking you away. You remember bits and pieces after that. Mostly Jane talking. But you can’t remember what she said.

“Is everyone okay?” You ask.

“Sorta.” Dave says, frowning now.

“... ‘Sorta’?”

“Dirk’s still missing.”

You feel a pang as you realize how much that must worry Dave. So you smile a little. “Don’t worry. He’s a survivor. He can live through anything.”

Dave gives you a little smile. You try to sit up again, but move slower this time and manage to sit. “How long have I been out?” You ask.

“A little over four days.” Dave answers, and you nod.

Just then, you hear a familiar sound. A high-pitch whistle sound. Your heads snaps around to look outside. Karkat. He’s calling for you. You guess he must have somehow found out and is worried about you. He tends to know things that never cease to surprise you.

“Leave it.” Dave warned. “He called yesterday too. But you’re in no shape to move.”

“But Dave! He’s worried about me!” You whine pitifully, attempting to get up.

Dave grabs your wrist and yanks you back down. “You’re not going anywhere, John.”

You frown, but realize he’s right. You would just end up more hurt if you left now. So instead you sigh and sink back down to the ground.

.:~:.

David, Jane, and the three other members of your flock show up within the next few hours. You’re glad that they’re okay, especially Jade, since she’s your best friend and might as well be your sister.

That night, once everyone is asleep, you slowly rise to your feet and sneak out of the cave. For a minute you stand in the moonlight, but then you extend your wings and take flight. You know it’s stupid and may get you killed, but ...

Karkat.

He’s worried about you. You need to tell him you’re okay.

You remember where his home is from when you stayed with him six years ago. He hasn’t moved, as far as you know. A you’re flying, you shiver as you feel the chill of the night air seeping into your skin and bones, and you wish you had a shirt. The only thing keeping you going now is that you MUST get to Karkat.

You fly over the city, spotting Karkat’s house and flying down. It’s the back doorstep you land on, hoping to avoid being seen, and you knock on the door. You know it’s late, but you know he’s be happy to see you.

When Karkat answers the door a minute later, looking tired but like he hasn’t slept, you give him a smile. Before you even have a chance to say hello, he’s practically tackled you in a hug and is squeezing you tightly.

“Damn it, John! I thought you were killed!” He says, and you realize he’s shaking.

You frown a little. You’d known he was worried, but ...

“Karkat ... Hey, it’s okay. I’m fine. Or at least, I will be. C’mon, please stop freaking me out.” You say, wrapping your arms around him in turn. He takes a deep breath before finally letting you go. But his hand lingers on your arm.

“You’re freezing!” He exclaims, and the next thing you know you’re being tugged into his house. He practically scrambles to the other room and returns with a blanket, wrapping it tightly around you.

But it’s as he does so that he sees your side, and the healing gashes from the sabre’s claws. He doesn’t comment, though you can tell how much it’s bothering him. You know he wishes he could just take you to the hospital.

You hold the blanket around you, already warming up again, and smile a bit. “Thanks, Karkat.” You murmur. He nods in response, then holds out a hand for you to take. You do, and he guides you to his room, where he forces you to lie down.

“You’re still hurt, so sleep.” He says.

It doesn’t even occur to you that you should head back to the flock as you instead bury into his pillows. They smell like him, making you feel safe and warm inside. It’s as Karkat’s turning away that you reach out and grab his arm. 

“Lie down with me?” You ask. When he hesitates, you give him the puppy-dog stare. It always works. “Please, Karkat? Just like old times?” Finally, he gives in and crawls into bed with you. You smile and curl up against him, soaking up his warmth.

His arms slide under the blankets over you and you find yourself pulled close to his chest. You realize he’s trembling. Confused, and a little worried, you look up. “... Karkat? Are you okay?” You ask.

His only response is to look at you, then press your foreheads together. “I almost lost you ... If it weren’t for Dirk telling me about what happened, I never would have even known.”

You want to ask about Dirk, who you’re glad is alive, but you’re too caught up in the fact that Karkat’s so close, and that he sounds so miserable. You whine a little. “Karkat ...”

“It’s a dangerous world out there, John. And I want to take you out of it. But ... I know I can’t.” Karkat tells you, and he closes his eyes. “You’ve got a life out there. A family, friends. It’s the best I can do to just support you any way I can. But ... Fuck, I worry about you. I miss you.”

Tears come to your eyes. “Karkat, stop it. You’re gonna make me cry.” You say quietly. He opens his eyes and stares directly into yours. You feel your heart skip a beat, and your pulse suddenly sounds so loud.

The way he’s looking at you ... It’s ... You’ve never seen that look before. On anybody. It’s a look you want to see again. And again. And again and forever. The tears that had been in your eyes fall suddenly, but you don’t even think as you tilt your head and move forward, pressing your lips over his.

You feel his lips shaking as he slowly kisses back. You realize now why he’s so scared, why he worries about you and why he wants you here with him. You understand. You wish you knew what to do.

Karkat finally breaks away and hugs you, burying his face in your neck. You hug him back, making a soft sound. You like him. You want him. You need him. But you know now isn’t the time to discuss anything. Now is the time to be content in each other’s presence.

The two of you stay that way the whole night, eventually passing out around the same time around dawn, cuddled close in each other’s arms.


	9. Chapter Nine

Dirk heals fast.

You’re actually rather sad that he does, -You’re Jake again by the way- because it means his departure draws ever nearer. But you try not to think about that, instead spending as much time with him a you can.

But in only a matter of two weeks, he’s all healed, and you find yourself in a compromising position. He seems to have gotten used to life with you, and honestly ... you don’t want that to end yet. You like him! So you avoid bringing it up that he needs to get back to his own kind.

Unfortunately for you, he’s the one to bring it up one day.

You’re just doing the dishes when he does. He walks up behind you and leans against your back. You smile a little, setting down the plater you’d just cleaned and turning to face him.

Your smile drops when you see the serious look on his face. His hands are together, and he’s playing with his fingers nervously. “... Dirk?” You question.

“Jake, I ... I really can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me.” He says, looking up at you. “But ... I need to get back to my flock.”

You nod a little after a minute, resisting the urge to sigh. “That’s fine.” You tell him, though inside you’re sad. “I can take you back to the mountains tomorrow if you want.”

He nods, turning then to walk away.

You let him, then go back to the dishes, zoning out as you robotically clean them. This is it. Dirk’s leaving in less than sixteen hours. You doubt you’ll ever see him again, really. The thought that tonight will be the last you spend with him makes you frown deeply.

.:~:.

You avoid going to bed that night, not wanting to sleep and let several hours pass. But you give in when Dirk eventually asks you to lie down with him, claiming to be tired. The two of you curl up in bed together, you holding him to your chest as you usually do, the other’s head tucked under your chin.

He doesn’t fall asleep. You know this because his breathing doesn’t change.

It’s hours into the night that you finally sigh softly. “Dirk?” You ask.

“Yeah?” He answers.

“... I’m going to miss you.” You admit, rubbing his back a little. He doesn’t answer, instead just snuggling ever closer. So you continue. “It’s been great having you here with me. I always thought living alone was the best, but ... Having you around is better.”

He hums softly.

“Just .... Promise me you’ll take care once we say goodbye tomorrow, okay? I don’t want to somehow find out you’re dead.”

He’s quiet.

“... Dirk?”

No response. You sigh a little, giving up and just lying there, wide awake.

.:~:.

You’re Dirk again when morning comes.

You haven’t slept. Not a wink. Your heart’s been breaking for hours now, and it’s taking everything you’ve got to stay calm. You know Jake’s going to miss you, and Hell, you’re going to miss him! But ... Your flock. They need you as much as you need them.

You’ll never be able to thank Jake enough for his help, and you wish there was something you could do for him, but in the end there’s nothing.

So in the morning when you’re pretending to be asleep, he gets up and quietly leaves the room. You let him, lying there for a while longer, lost in thought. But soon you get up too, going and putting on your favorite outfit before leaving the room to go find Jake.

You find him in the living room, holding a familiar feather in his hands. It still strikes you as coincidence that he found your feather, and then later found you. You find it ... strange. Like it was meant to be or something dumb like that.

When he looks up and sees you, he gives the tiniest of smiles, setting the feather aside. “Hey.” He greets. “Good morning.” You want to remind him that neither of you actually slept, but you don’t. Instead you nod and go over, sitting by him.

It’s quiet for a while, until finally Jake speaks again. “So, what do you want for breakfast?”

“I’m not hungry.” You answer quietly. But he frowns.

“Dirk, I’m not sending you off on an empty stomach. Please have something to eat.”

You just want to see him smile again, so you agree. You don’t have anything big. Just toast. But it’s enough for him and you’re glad to see him happy.

The next hour is a blur. You try to forget it. After you finished eating, the two of you got ready and got in the car. Jake insisted that you take a few things with you, and who would you be to say no?

Now you’ve got a few bags full of things. A few blankets, some changes of clothes, some food, and he even gave you his sweater, gloves, and several pairs of socks to help keep you warm during the colder days. You want to tell him it’s too much, but you’re so happy that he’s thinking about your safety that you just accept the offered items.

The car ride is quiet, and you can feel the air growing grim the closer you get to the mountains. Jake keeps reaching over and lightly rubbing your shoulder, and you’re glad he does. It reminds you that he doesn’t want you to go. But you’re thankful he’s letting you. You know most humans wouldn’t.

Finally, you get there. You’re instructed to head up into the woods a bit and stay close to the trail, and you do, carrying one of the four bags with you. You find a little clearing, sitting down to wait for him. There’s a crisp chill in the air, reminding you that it’s almost winter.

Soon, Jake walks into sight, the three other bags in his possession. You stand up as he reaches you, sighing softly. “Well ...” You murmur.

“Yeah.” Jake says. You don’t need to say it. You both already know.

So you step forward and hug him tightly, then move back. You grab the sweater Jake had given you, and even cut holes in the back for your wings, and put it on. It’s so warm, and it smells like him ...

You grab the four bags, which thankfully only one of them is really heavy, give Jake a warm smile, then you take off before you can tell yourself not to. You have to resist the urge to look back once you’re up in the air and flying off.


	10. Chapter Ten

Your flock isn’t at your usual roost when you fly by. You don’t blame them, since they had to leave to hide from the sabre. You decide they’ll be back soon enough and land easily outside the cave housing the nests.

Your heart aches a little at the thought that next time you lay down, Jake won’t be there to hold you. You try not to think about that as you instead head into the cave and drop the bags of things Jake gave you in your nest.

Logic tells you that you should be searching for your flock, but really all you want to do is grab a blanket and curl up. Despite your better judgement, that’s exactly what you do. You pull out the three blankets you were given, cuddling up among them in your nest. They still smell like Jake, and you’re able to rest easy with them, exhausted from a sleepless night.

.:~:.

The next time you wake up, it’s to the sound of voices. You open your eyes drearily, still exhausted, and rub at them with your hand. You yawn, sitting up a little. You’ve slept all day; the sun is setting.

A familiar figure appears at the entrance of the cave. You smile a little, waving at your brother, who’s standing there with-eyed. “Dirk!” He practically cries, rushing over to you and tackling you in a hug. You hug him back, appreciating the closeness.

“Hey.” You greet. “What’s up? How is everyone?”

“We’re fine! All fine.” Dave answers. “No one died this time. Shit, I’m just glad you’re okay! John said Karkat told him you were alright and staying with a human. Is that true?”

You nod. “Yeah.” You answer. “He was nice. He helped me get better, and took care of me. I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss him already.” It feels weird admitting it to your brother, but you’d rather tell him of all people.

He chuckles, hugs you again, then gets up to go tell everyone you’re okay. In the next two minutes, you’re surrounded by your flock, getting affectionate hugs from each of them, including David.

Half the night is spent recounting your story. You find yourself smiling a lot as you talk about Jake and his home, and it doesn’t seem to go unnoticed by Roxy, your best girl-friend, and Jane. You’re not sure just what they’re thinking, but they keep giggling and whispering to each other. You’re too happy to care.

.:~:.

The sun rises and you’re once again Jake.

Your phone is ringing loudly, and you just want it to shut up. But when you see that it’s your dad, you answer.

Turns out it’s not your dad.

It’s actually a man calling to tell you he’s dead. While this is somewhat painful news, you’re not as upset as you could be. You and your father were never really close. But something good comes out of his death.

You, being his only family, inherit his home and his lakehouse. You vaguely remember the place from when you were a kid, recalling that it’s more or less a mansion by a lake on private property. You’d always liked it better than the home you grew up in. It’s definitely where you’ll end up later, after you’ve managed to catch that mountain lion.

The man on the other end of the phone informs you that he’ll be in touch for details on the funeral. You hang up, realizing you forgot to ask just how your dad died. You decide not to call back, instead getting ready for the day.

.:~:.

Around noon you end up back at the mountains, deciding that a good hunt is just what you need to keep your mind off of Dirk, who has been at the forefront of your mind since he left. You do your best to focus on your target, though little memories and thoughts slip by every now and then.

You’re thrilled when you quickly find a stable trail leading further up into the mountains. Maybe today you’ll actually catch that elusive lion.

You get so engrossed in the hunt that you don’t notice the hours pass. When you finally seem to realize how far you’ve followed the trail, you also realize you’re hopelessly lost. You want to smack yourself for not marking a trail.

But not only that you’re dangerously high up the mountain. From where you stand, you can see down to where your car is parked. The sun will be setting in a few hours, and you’re determined to find the mountain lion before then. If you have to walk back in the dark, so be it.

You’ve just found a solid indication that your prey is nearby. You pull your rifle off your shoulder, keeping it in your grasp as you continue along. After your last encounter, you’re not being caught unprepared again.

Suddenly, as you’re intent on your surroundings, you hear a loud cry. You jump, surprised, and a moment later you hear a loud roar. You immediately look up at the rock wall above you. It’s maybe thirty feet in height, and you now know something is up there.

Looking for a way up, you spot some vines and head over. Quickly giving them a sharp tug to make sure they’re strong enough, you proceed to climb up. Once up top, you realize what you’ve stumbled upon is not just a mountain lion hunting, but an entire settlement.

Your eyes are wide as you see all the bird-people, like Dirk, hovering in the air. Your eyes lower to where that damn mountain lion is facing off against the last person you wanted to see in such a position.

Dirk and the lion are circling each other. Nearby on the ground you spot another avian-human lying unmoving, golden feathers splattered with blood. It’s a sight that makes you cringe.

You realize then that none of them seem to notice your presence, all so intent on Dirk and the lion. You raise your gun and aim at the thing.

It launches at Dirk, tackling him and pinning him down. It raises a paw to claw at him.

The sound of the bullet firing from your rifle doesn’t even register to you as you’re too intent on whether or not it had hurt Dirk. Everything seems to stand still as you watch the lion fall limp over your friend.

All eyes are on you, and you’ve still got your rifle raised at the lion, just in case it decides to get up. You don’t truly realize that that’s not possible despite the fact the bullet had embedded itself in the animal’s brain.

Only once Dirk shoves the bloody creature off and sits up to look at you do you finally lower your weapon, sighing in relief that he doesn’t appear harmed. Covered in the now dead mountain lion’s blood, but otherwise unharmed.

“Jake.” He says, staring at you with a look you’re not quite able to decipher.

You smile a little, and suddenly Dirk is on his feet, darting over to you and wrapping you up in his arms. You hug him back. “God, I’m so glad I was around.” You murmur, realizing how close Dirk truly came to dying.

The other avian-humans seem to realize you’re not a threat as they instead land back on the ground, crowding around the only one of them to have been injured. You let go of Dirk as he pulls away, going over to join the others. You slowly follow.

One of the other boys, with blue feathers of which you recognize, reaches for the golden-feathered figure and turns him over. You wince as the massive gash on his chest is revealed, and feel terrible as you realize he’s still alive. Suffering.

“David ...” One of the girls nearby whimpers, burying into another next to her.

Dirk looks up at you, and you know what he’s thinking. You shake your head. Even if you had emergency medical things with you, you know he’d be dead before you could stop the bleeding.

Dirk looks back at the other on the ground, and suddenly the golden-feathered boy’s eyes open a little. “Is it dead?” He speaks, and you can’t help but notice the obvious agony on his voice.

“Yeah.” Dirk answers, knelt down by him with the blue-feathered boy and another with red feathers. “Yeah, it’s dead.”

“Hm ... I’m glad ...” Bright golden eyes close and the wounded male’s hand lifts, lightly grabbing onto Dirk’s arm. “Be a good leader.”

“What? David, I ... I can’t. I can’t possibly lead like you did. Surely someone else ...?” Dirk says, shaking his head.

But David only smiles a little. “No, Dirk. You’re the one who will succeed me.”

His voice is growing ever quieter, and you lightly place a hand on Dirk’s shoulder. “You’re running out of time.” You tell him. He looks at you, confliction obvious on his face, and then looks at David again.

“I ... I’ll try but ... I’ll never be like you.”

“Yes you will. You were like me from the start.” He winces, in a great deal of pain, and then manages to go on in a shaking voice. “I never told you ... How proud I am of you ...”

“David, don’t ...” Dirk says, his voice cracking.

“And I never told you the most important thing.”

“David.”

“We’re brothers.”

It’s deathly quiet then. You don’t get it, but the way Dirk’s eyes go wide and the way he stares at David makes you realize this truly is a sudden, huge development.

“But-“

“I didn’t want you to know. I had to ensure that things played out the way they did. That you would strive to better yourself as my rival.” He sighs quietly, and you realize his time is about up. “I love you, Dirk. I’ll always be proud of you.”

You watch then as he takes his final breath and goes still. Dirk doesn’t move for a minute. But when he does it’s to quickly reach up and tightly grasp your hand, which is still on his shoulder. He’s shaking.

You frown, moving to kneel down beside him. You take your hand from his grip to wrap your arm around Dirk’s shoulders. He looks at you, and his eyes are full of tears he’s struggling to hold back.

The girls are crying nearby, and the blue-feathered boy next to you is too. The only one who seems to be keeping together relatively well is the boy with the red wings. Though you’re not sure if that’s because he seems to have zoned out to another world.

Dirk leans into your one-armed embrace for a minute or two, before finally taking a deep breath and standing up. “John, Dave.” He says. The two boys look up at him. “Get rid of the beast’s body.”

“Okay.” The boy with the blue feathers says and gets up, heading off with the other mentioned male to go do just that.

Dirk looks to the four girls, three of which are crying and the fourth trying to comfort them. “I know you’re grieving, but do you think it can wait for just a little longer? I need you four to help me with digging a grave and burying him.”

The girl with light purple wings, the one who is not crying, nods. “I will ensure it is done, Dirk. Give us just a few minutes.”

Dirk nods. “Granted. Thank you, Rose.” He then grabs your hand, tugging you to your feet. You follow him as he leads you away, going over towards a pond nearby. He stands by the water, quiet, and you stand with him.

You don’t have to ask to know that he’s feeling uncertain, unprepared, and overwhelmed. You grab his shoulder and turn him to face you before wrapping your arms around him. He slumps a little into the embrace, chin resting on your shoulder. He’s quivering, and you realize that right now he needs you more than ever.

You stay right there with him, holding him, until eventually Rose approaches and informs you that it’s time to lay David to rest for good.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Letting David go is the hardest thing you, Dirk, have ever done. You’d spent so many years as his rival that it didn’t strike you how much you truly needed him until he was gone. You’re overwhelmed by your new role among the flock, and honestly you’re not sure if you can do it. Even John would do better than you! Well, you’d like to believe that, but the way he looks at you now makes you realize he doesn’t envy you.

You spend all night sitting vigil by David’s grave. Everyone else goes to sleep, and you want nothing less. You’ve all had a long, stressful day and need rest. But you feel like you’d be dishonoring David if you didn’t stay awake to watch over him, just for tonight.

Jake stays with you, and you’re incredibly grateful, even if he ends up falling asleep with his head on your lap. You don’t mind, sitting quietly and lightly playing with his hair, rubbing his shoulder and back throughout the night. You’re glad that it’s a relatively warm night.

Sleeping on the grass isn’t new to Jake, you can tell. He’s a huntr, and oftentimes hunters camp out. But still, you feel ... wrong. Like that’s beneath him. You also feel that you’ve got Jake held up on this sort of pedestal. It’s silly, you decide.

The sun is just rising when you hear footsteps. Looking over your shoulder, you watch as your brother and John walk up to you, sitting down next to you and Jake. Dave looks at the human a moment, then at you.

“How you holding up?” He asks quietly. You notice he looks tired, and you realize he’s spent most of the night awake. You’re thankful that you have a brother who cares enough about you, and David, to spend most if not all of the night awake. You guess he spent it awake for a reason similar to your own.

“Fine, I guess.” You answer quietly, looking away and down at Jake.

John stays quiet next to Dave, eyes intent on the spot where David had been buried, as if he expected their old leader to rise from the dead. You can see the grief on his face when you look at him, and you wish you knew what to say to comfort him. He and David had been very close. You realize with a pang of guilt that David would have known what to do.

“You’ll do find, you know.” Dave says suddenly, making you turn to him. He must have seen the doubt on your face, because he continued on. “David thought you could do it. He was always right.”

“But that’s just it, Dave. David knew everything. I don’t. Hell, I don’t even know what to do now!” You tell him, then sigh. “I mean, what if I mess up? What if I do something that gets us all hurt? You’re all counting on me to make the right choices. But ... What if I don’t?”

“Everyone makes mistakes, Dirk. Even David. Remember when he told us that those apple-like fruits were okay to eat, and then half of us got sick as a result?”

You nod after a minute. You do remember that. It was late fall, and the cold weather had come early that year. The flock was running out of things to eat and Jane found this strange tree with fruit that looked kind of like apples. David told you all it was okay to eat, and those of you who did eat them ended up getting sick.

“Yeah.” You tell him, realizing he’s right. “You were throwing up for two days.” You smile a little as you remember having to spend hours at a time by Dave’s side, since back then he was still a tad young and hated getting sick.

“See? Accidents happen.” Dave tells you, and you offer a little smile, feeling a bit better. He’s right. Making mistakes is okay. It’s part of bettering yourself and learning what’s right and wrong. You reach over and hug him with one arm.

“Thanks, Dave.”

“No problem, bro.”

John finally speaks up, voice sounding sad, but the look in his eyes tells you he’s being sincere. “I think you’ll be a great leader. You always used to try and take David’s place anyway.”

You smile a little. It means a lot to hear it from someone other than your brother, who you know always has your back. “I’ll try my best.” You promise him. He gives you a little smile, then goes back to looking at David’s grave.

Suddenly, Jake shifts a little. You look down at him as he opens his eyes an turns his head to look up at you. “Nnn? Dirk?” He sits up, rubbing his eyes. “Is it morning already?”

“Yeah. Sun’s almost up.” You tell him.

You watch as he rubs his arms, shivering. “Damn, it’s cold.” That’s right. Humans have less tolerance to the cold than your people do. You reach over and pull him into a hug, frowning as you realize he’s VERY cold.

“Hey, Dave?” You say.

“Yeah?”

“Can you go get Jake a blanket for me?”

Dave nods, getting up and walking off to get one. In the meantime, you keep Jake held close to your side, valuing his company. Jake stays quiet, and when you look at him you realize he’s staring at David’s grave, a little bit of a sad look on his face.

You lightly nudge him with your head. “Jake?” You question. “What’s wrong?”

He blinks, brought out of his thoughts, and looks at you. His bright green eyes search yours, and then he looks down. “I don’t know.” He answers. “I just ... can’t help but feel responsible.”

“What? Jake, that’s stupid. It wasn’t your fault.”

“But I mean ... if I had just been a few minutes earlier, maybe I could have stopped it before it hurt him.” Jake sighed, then shook his head, getting a sheepish look on his face. “You’re right. It’s stupid.”

For a minute you look at him, then you sigh. “There’ll always be ‘what if’s, Jake. Even if we lost David, you still saved my life. Again.” You emphasize that this is the second time he’s saved you. You suddenly wonder if there’s anything you could ever do to repay him, but what could a guy like you possibly give him?

Jake doesn’t get to respond as suddenly Dave returns, draping a thick blanket around the human’s shoulders. Jake looks up at him and nods, then tugs the blanket close around him.

You look at Dave as he lightly nudges John’s back with his knee and then holds out a hand to him. John takes his hand and rises to his feet, and the two walk away. You and Jake are left along again.

You sigh a bit after several minutes of comfortable silence have passed, and Jake looks up at you. “What’s up?” He asks, knowing there’s something bothering you, it seems.

“I don’t know. I think we need to get out of these mountains. Maybe to a warmer place.” You say, but then look at David’s grave. “But so many of us have lost our lives here. This is our home, and the final resting place of some.”

Jake is quiet for a minute, but then he smiles a little. “There’s nothing wrong with moving on, you know. I mean, sure you’ve spent generations and generations here, but sometimes change is a good thing.”

He’s right. You realize that. You’re letting yourself be tied down to this place because it’s where David rests. You hadn’t moved prior because it had never really been a concern. Or it didn’t cross David’s mind. But you have to face the facts that the city nearby is expanding, hunters roam these mountains, and sooner or later some other predator will move in to take the old one’s place.

Maybe there is a better place out there for you and your flock. Besides, Jake finding one of your feathers was a big deal. You’re just lucky he turned out to be a friend. But what if it happens that someone else finds some trace of your existence, but seeks you out for other reasons?

Yes, you decide. It’s time that you move on. But you've got to talk to your flock first. You won’t make the decision to leave unless its unanimous.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Once everyone is awake later, you do talk to them. They seem appalled by the idea of leaving at first, especially John, but once you explain your reasons, they all seem to understand. In the end, they all agree that it’s for the best.

You’re happy that your first real decision as a leader is a good one, but you can’t help but feel sad for some reason. It isn’t until sometime later when you find Jake sitting by the pond looking miserable that you realize why that is.

You don’t want to see him go. He’s not one of you. Though a friend, he cannot live with you. It felt so natural having him with you this past day that you forgot he’s human. You feel your heart break at the idea that you’ve got to say goodbye. For real this time.

You’re about to go talk to him when John suddenly comes up to you. He looks about as miserable as Jake does, but before you can ask him why he speaks.

“Do you mind if I go see Karkat before we go ...?” He asks, and realize that you’re not the only one who has to say goodbye. If this is hard for you after only knowing Jake for a short time, you can’t begin to imagine how John must be feeling, losing his friend of six years and the reason he’s still alive.

“Go ahead, John. Take the night. Be back around dawn.” You say. In truth you’d wanted everyone to stay together after losing David, but you realize how important this is to John, and in the end it’s not just about you. So you let him go.

He gives you a grateful nod and heads off, taking flight. You watch him go, then walk over to sit beside Jake. He tosses a stone across the water, watching it skip, as you take a seat. He doesn’t look at you, only staring miserably at the water.

“I don’t want you to go either, you know.” You tell him, voicing what you know he won’t. He tilts his head up to gaze at you, and you look back at him. “If I had any better options, I would stay.”

“No.” Jake says, sighing. “You need this. All of you. I guess I’m just ... gonna miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Jake.” You tell him, wishing your throat didn’t feel so tight and your heart so heavy. “You’re a real friend.”

He smiles a little, but it’s a sad smile. It really doesn’t suit him. He takes a deep breath, looking up at the sky. It’s still early afternoon. “I hate to say it but, I have to get going soon if I want to make it back down the mountain before nightfall.”

You almost frown, but keep your composure and nod. He gets to his feet, and you follow. Even as the two of you are walking over to where he’d left his rifles the day before, you can see as his expression plummets even more.

He grabs his rifles and slings them over his shoulders, then turns to you. You frown as you observe his face, and are about to tell him to cheer up when he suddenly steps right up to you and presses his lips over yours.

You stand there stupidly, blinking at him once he pulls away. He offers you a little smile, then turns away, waving as he walks off. Your heart has never felt so broken.

.:~:.

You’re now Jake, and you’ve never absconded from somewhere so fast in your life. Only one you’re a mile away from there do you let yourself break. You lean against a tree, tears sliding down your cheeks and hands clenched into fists. This isn’t fair! Why did you have to fall in love with some handsome, kind, calm and collected, bird person? It’s not FAIR!

You punch the tree, not even caring as the barks leaves little cuts along your knuckles. You’re shaking as you glare up at the sky and continue walking.

Now you’ve got nothing left to do but go home to your new lakehouse all alone on all that private property in the middle of nowhere- You stop in your tracks, eyes wide. Private property. In the middle of nowhere. In the middle of nowhere.

You don’t even give yourself a chance to fully process the thought before you’re spinning around and running back the way you came.

.:~:.

Now Dirk again, you find yourself sitting on the little bridge over the lake you’d come to so many times over the years. After Jake’s departure, you needed some time to breathe, some time to think and collect your thoughts, so you’d left Dave and Rose in charge and flown off in a hurry, leaving your flock confused as to your actions.

Your fingers tug at the blades of grass next to you, and you sigh quietly. Your mind goes back to the kiss. You can still feel his lips against yours, and you wish so desperately that it’s not the one and only time you’ll feel that.

You spend the better part of an hour trying to tell yourself it wouldn’t have worked out anyway. You’re both males, not to mention two different species. But even though you know this, you really just wish you didn’t have to go ...

You give up and resign yourself to being sad for a while, getting to your feet again. You don’t want to leave your flock alone for too long, so you hurriedly spread your wings and take to the air, heading back.

When you return, you’re surprised to see Jake talking to Dave in a hurry. What is he doing back here? When he looks over and sees you, he smiles and runs over, dropping his rifles and throwing his arms around you in a hug. He’s smiling, and you’re confused. Wasn’t he sad?

But then he lets go of you. “Dirk, I figured it out!”

“Figured what out?” You ask him, so confused.

“Where you can go and how we can still be together an just-just listen, okay!” He takes a deep breath, probably to calm himself. “My dad passed away a few days ago, and I inherited all his stuff. So now I have this lakehouse- that’s a house by the lake- and it’s on private property at least a three hour drive from any city!”

You suddenly realize what he’s driving at, and you think. He’s gone silent now, waiting for your answer. You look at him. “It’s secluded?” You ask. “There’s no roads or anything nearby?”

“Way out in the middle of nowhere! The only road is the one leading up to it, which is both blocked at the entrance and at least ten minutes worth of driving long!” He tells you hastily, shifting from foot to foot.

You think about it. It’s not some mountain peak or high up place, but it’s safe, it’s secluded, and there would be no humans in the area besides Jake. So in the end, you nod. “Alright.” You tell him, and give him a smile. “That’s where we’ll go then.”

He practically beams at you as he hugs you. You silently wish he’d kiss you again, too afraid to kiss him yourself out of fear that maybe he’s changed his mind. Or decided it was just a spur of the moment thing.

Little do you know that that’s the same reason he hasn’t kissed you again yet either.

.:~:.

Jake has to hurry down the mountain. He claims there’s things he must do before the end of the day, like sell his house. You let him go with the promise that he’ll drive out in the morning and meet you here, and then all of you can head off. Your flock will just follow his car from high in the sky. He’d warned you it’s a very long trip. A day at least, but you don’t mind staying in the woods for a night.

You spend the rest of the day going over memories of your childhood, and revisiting all your favorite places in the area. It’ll be the last you see them, of course. Since your flock has very little to bring along, you can allow yourself some leisure time before the trip.

That night you get a much-needed sleep, having gone more than a day without rest. You curl up with your brother as usual, and sleep finds you easily.

In the morning, just about dawn after you’ve just awoken, John arrives. He’s not alone. You emerge from the cave, yawning, and spot John with his human friend. They appear to be saying goodbye to each other. You find it incredibly kind of Karkat to make the trip up the mountain with John to say goodbye.

When they kiss, you realize why this is so hard for him. Just as Karkat is about to leave, you get an idea and walk over. “John, Karkat.” You say. The human, shorter than you, stops and looks at you. Neither him or John look very happy at all.

“Oh, hey.” The human greets, then sighs a little. “Good luck on your journey.”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.” You tell him, baffling both him and John, who you remember doesn’t know of the plan.

“Hmm?” Karkat asks.

“How much trouble would it be for you to leave your home? This morning?”

“Well, if I wanted to I could just get my parents to sell the house. I could honestly leave any time. Why?” Karkat asks, clearly confused.

“We’re going with Jake to his home on private property.” You explain. “I don’t think he’d mind if you came along.”

John’s face lights up, and he looks at you hopefully. “Really, Dirk? Karkat can come with us?”

“If he wants to.” You nod.

John looks at his human lover, who looks between the two of you before finally nodding. “I’m coming.” He says decisively. “When are we leaving?”

“You two should head down the mountain again. Jake will be here soon. We’ll meet you down there.”

John claps excitedly, grabbing Karkat’s hand and practically dragging him away. You smile and chuckle, just glad that things worked out for them and that John won’t be miserable.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

When everyone meets up at the base of the mountain, and you explain to Jake the situation with Karkat -to which he has no problem with, as you suspected- you all head off. Karkat and Jake go in the car, and you take your place at the head of the flock, following the car from high above.

The trip is long, and you end up having to stop for one night, but soon you’re out in the middle of nowhere -Jake wasn’t kidding-. You can already see the lakehouse from your spot high in the sky, and you decide that this really is the best place for you and your flock to be.

When the car pulls up to the house and stops, you signal to your flock to land and fly down, being the first to land. You stretch your arms and wings a bit as you walk over to Jake and Karkat, who are just getting out of the car.

You watch as John lands and proceeds to jump-tackle Karkat to the ground, nuzzling him affectionately. It’s such a warm sight that you smile at them, then move to stand beside Jake. The girls and Dave stand near you, still unfamiliar with this place. But you can hear Roxy talking excitedly to Jane about the lake. She likes water.

Jake looks at you. “I’ll show you guys around the house, and then you can pick rooms.” He says, making you raise a brow.

“We’re sleeping inside?” You ask, surprised.

“Well, yeah! There’s enough rooms.” Jake says, and you smile excitedly as you realize that this means all of you will be living just like humans. No more sleeping in nests and caves.

You chuckle and nod, motioning Jake to lead the way up the stairs and into the house.

Inside, the kitchen and living room are connected. Both are huge. The kitchen has several shiny devices, the fridge, the stove, the dishwasher. You like the look of the living room the best. There’s a huge TV mounted on the wall, with two sofas and a couple lounge chairs. The rug on the floor beneath the coffee table is a nice cream color.

Jake brings you down the hall to where four of the rooms are, and you’re pleased with the size of them. All of the beds were about as big as Jake’s was at his old place. He called it a ‘queen’ bed.

Downstairs are more rooms as well as another sort of sitting room, and another TV. He makes sure to show you all the little room he calls the laundry room, telling you that your clothes are washed here. Once that’s done, he tells you all to go choose your rooms. You let your flock go first, instead standing by Jake as they disperse.

They don’t seem to understand the point of rooms, except John and Karkat who are sharing one together, but you know they’ll appreciate having their own private space. Once they head off, Jake sighs in content and goes back upstairs. You follow him for lack of something better to do, and the two of you head to the kitchen.

“I wonder what Sir Aaron stocked the fridge and cupboards with before I left him to tend the house in the city.” Jake muttered to himself as he went and opened the fridge. He immediately grinned, pulling out a package of hotdogs -you remember having them one night while you were staying with Jake in Mendoza- and going to the counter. “That man knows me well.” He chuckled, opening the package and taking one out, biting into it.

You give him a funny look, to which he tilts his head.

“What?” He asks.

“Uh, aren’t you going to cook it?” You ask. “Isn’t raw meat bad for you?”

Jake laughs. “It’s a hotdog!” He tells you, waving it around. “You can eat them raw. Steak or chicken you can’t, but hotdogs you can. You nod, but still give him a ‘you’re nuts’ look.

Soon Roxy joins you, giggling. “Janey and I are gonna share a room!” She tells you, to which you nod and smile. “Diiiiirky, can I go out to the lake now? Pleaaaaase?”

“Roxy, just because I’m leader doesn’t mean you have to ask me permission for everything.” You tell her, chuckling. “This is our home now. You can do whatever you want.”

“Dinner will be in about an hour though, so remember that.” Jake tells her, swallowing the last of his hotdog before going to the fridge again.

Roxy claps and ‘woop woop’s before running out the door. You watch through the window-wall as she practically launches off the deck to fly over to the water. You like that wall, since it’s almost completely covered in large windows.

.:~:.

That night, once everyone has gone to bed and you, Jake, are just finishing setting the dishes in the dishwasher, you head out the door and down the stairs. You cross the grass and head over to the dock, walking down to the end and sitting down. It’s been forever since you’ve been here. At least five years. But it’s just the same as always, minus your dad.

The moon is full and bright in the sky, and you stare at its reflection on the water. A smile comes to your face as you realize you’ve never been happier. You have Dirk here with you, and he’s got his flock as well. You feel like you’ve done a great thing, and it makes you happy.

Footsteps make you look up over your shoulder just as Dirk sits beside you. He’s quiet, but he looks content. You lean over against him and he wraps an arm around your shoulders.

For a while the two of you are quiet, listening to the sounds of the water lapping at the shore and the fish splashing. If it were earlier in the year, there would be crickets and frogs too.

“It’s so peaceful here.” Dirk finally says. “It’s so different from our old home.”

“This is my favorite place.” You admit to him, talking softly. “I came here every summer as a kid, and sometimes we stayed here in the winter to go skating on the frozen lake. But this ... this is the best. Being able to sit on the dock and look out at the moon.”

“Yeah.” He agrees.

You go quiet again.

It isn’t for some time that Dirk finally turns his head, pressing his lips to your cheek quickly. You look at him, loving the way his eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight. You search his face as you lean closer. He leans forward to meet you, and you kiss him, really kiss him.

It makes your heart skip a beat and your chest feel like there’s butterflies trapped inside. One of your hands comes up to lightly touch his cheek while you kiss, resting there for just a moment before moving up around to the back of his head, fingers lightly gripping his hair.

You feel it as he shivers, breaking away to let out a slightly shaking breath. You’re worried for a moment that you’ve somehow messed up, but when he opens his eyes you see that he’s just a little nervous, like you.

You smile, then giggle, then laugh as you lean forward to press your foreheads together. You peck him on the lips again, bringing your hands to rest on his shoulders. “I love you.” You tell him, thumbs rubbing against his neck.

He smiles, and this time it’s him who pecks you on the lips. “I love you too.”

The two of you remain there on the dock, cuddling and exchanging little kisses until you eventually start to get cold. At that point, the two of you head inside to get some rest. You curl up in bed together, you with your face buried in Dirk’s neck and one leg between his, and Dirk with his arms around you and one hand playing with your hair a little.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter guys! Enjoy the sex!

You’re surprised by how quickly the bond between Dirk and you strengthens. It’s not at all a problem, but it happens in a matter of days. You have to say you really like the extra attention.

Dirk quickly became possessive of you. He hardly leaves your side for anything, and he seems to have a fondness for touching you. It seems to you that he always has to be touching you, even if it’s just a little touch. Not that you mind. You find it rather endearing, actually.

On top of all the physical attention, you find he’s quick to leap to your aid, even if just a menial task. He’s often complementing you, telling you he loves you, and giving you these looks that just make your knees go weak.

But most of all, you find out how much you really want him. Intimately. You don’t dare ask him, since you’re not sure how he’d feel about that kind of thing. But you’re okay just sneaking looks at his ass every now and then and masturbating in the off time you find yourself out of his line of sight for a longer period of time. It’s never the same, but release after pent up sexual-frustration is always welcome.

You’re currently in the shower, one of the only times that Dirk isn’t practically glued to your side. He’s got the decency to give you privacy after the first time when he just followed you in and you had to explain to him that humans like to shower alone. As much as the thought of him against you and under the steaming hot water turns you on, you’re glad now that you said what you did back then. It gives you Jake-time to just let go.

You sigh softly, tilting your head back to let the water run through your hair and down your back. Your shoulders and back are tense after a long day in the car. It was that time of week where you had to go to town for groceries, and after a month of living at your new home you became less and less used to long periods of time in the car. This wouldn’t be a problem if town wasn’t three hours away by car.

You’d finished the actual process of cleaning almost ten minutes ago, now just standing under the water and enjoying the warmth. But finally you decide you’ve wasted enough water and turn the shower off. You pull back the curtain and step out, grabbing your towel.

In just a few minutes you’re dressed in clean clothes and walking from the room. You’re surprised to not find Dirk standing by the door waiting for you, but you think nothing of it as you instead just head down the hallway towards your room for a clean pair of socks, which you’d previous forgotten.

You pass the only closed door, but stop as sounds reach your ears. Your face heats up as you hear muffled grunting and groaning and realize that John and Karkat are at it again. They’d started having sex about a week ago, and this isn’t the first time you’ve heard them going at it.

You move to shuffle past the room but don’t even make it to your room before you’re turning around and practically vaulting back to the bathroom. Shit, hearing them always makes you stupidly horny. You hear one sound and your brain flies to Dirk, images of what he might look like on his back, face flushed and mouth dropped open in small -sometimes loud- moans.

You swiftly shut the door to the bathroom, stumbling to the tub as you tear off all your clothes again, and swiftly turn the water on. You turn it on warm, to match your own body temperature, and lean back against the tiled wall. You wish you can say you have some restraint, some decency, but you’re not thinking of anything other than Dirk in compromising positions and making sounds and your hand just flies to your dick, fingers wrapping around your already hard length and quickly pumping.

You let out a moan that’s an awkward mix with a sigh, tilting your head back so it hits the tiles with a small tap. “Fuuuck ...” You breathe, quiet enough that the sound of the running water drowns it out. You chew your lip a little, giving little squeezes with your working hand.

You don’t hear it as the door opens and as soft footsteps approach the tub.

It’s just so warm, and the movement and the pleasure has you slumping heavily against the wall. Your eyes are closed, and you’re moaning softly. The curtain pulls back, but you pay zero attention as you instead slowly open your eyes to stare at the ceiling.

It’s gotten to the point where you’re almost falling down, so you shift to stand up straighter and let your chin drop to touch your chest. But when your bright green eyes meet with a warm orange, you jerk back so you’re practically flat against the wall.

“Jesus, Dirk!” You gasp. “What are you doing in here? I told you I-Mmmph!” He moves fast. One minute you’re scolding him, the next he’s got his lips over yours. Any words that were previously to be spoken fly out the window as you realize that not only are you kissing your naked boyfriend while you are naked yourself, but it’s also being done in the shower of all places.

You melt into the kiss, forgetting about what he probably snuck in on you doing. Your lips part a little as you deepen the kiss, hands slowly coming up to grip at his shoulders. You shiver as a tingle goes up your spine when Dirk tightly grips your hip and tugs your close. You gasp as your groins are brushed together, and you groan as you feel that he’s hard too. Shit, you didn’t think he’d get that way about you.

He takes advantage of you gasping, tongue quickly invading your own mouth. Oh my God. You have a hard time responding, as your brain is going a little hazy and you just want to be all over him but at the same time you’re unable to will yourself to move.

“Nnngh, Dirk ...” You moan softly the moment you break the kiss to breathe. Your chest feels tight with emotion, but not in an unpleasant way. He grins at you, and it goes right to your dick. Fuck, that look.

He leans forward so his lips are by your ear, his breath tickling a little. “I know what you’ve been doing.” He tells you, and you groan. “I know that you’ve been pleasuring yourself when you think I’m not paying attention. I figured it was about time I did something about it.”

You close your eyes, shifting so that you’ve got your face buried in his neck, kissing at the skin there. Your arms are around his shoulders now, and you don’t even notice the water that keeps trickling over your nose from where it drips down from his hair.

One of his hands oves up and grips at your hair, the other hand travelling down your back. You groan as he grips your ass, pressing even further against him. His hard-on is pressed against your belly and yours against his thigh, and you can’t help but shift around a little, needy. God, you want him.

His fingers trace patterns over your lower back and ass cheeks, before suddenly he’s dipping them down more. You realize where he’s headed and attempt to pull back a bit, but you stop as you feel his fingers against your entrance, shivering. You tense up a bit, and he kisses your ear, since your face is still buried in his neck. You’d figured that when it came down to sex you’d be giving and he’d be receiving, but he clearly thinks the other way around.

You’re surprisingly okay with that.

After a second you relax once more, giving a tiny nod against his neck, occupying yourself with kissing and sucking at the skin against your lips. His breath hitches a little but it doesn’t stop him from slowly pushing one finger inside of you.

You’re trying hard not to tense up, since you know that that will make it hurt, but the water against your skin only helps so much as a form of lubricant. You grunt a bit as you start to feel a little bit of sting, and he stops. His free hand against your head lightly massages your scalp, and it’s a nice distraction from the pain. Once you’re feeling prepared to take more, you sigh a little, spreading your legs a bit.

That’s when things get heated. It only takes about three more seconds before your brain’s so foggy with lust than you don’t even feel most of the pain anymore. You moan a little, sucking hard at Dirk’s neck, suddenly wanting to leave marks all over him.

It’s not until he’s starting to thrust his finger in and out of you that you realize he’d even gotten it in all the way. You gasp a bit, as there’s still a tiny bit of pain, hands flying to grip at Dirk’s hair. The closeness between you at this very moment is astounding. You’ve never felt closer to him.

The pain when he adds a second finger hardly even registers. He’s moving faster now, giving you less time to handle the pain. It’s a sign that he’s getting impatient and needy. You’re tempted to tell him to fuck the preparation and just get on with it, but you know you’ll regret that, so you stay silent.

He thrusts his two fingers in hard and you cry out, surprisingly not in pain, tilting your head back. “Oh God.” You moan. “Fuck, Dirk, oh fuck, I need you, come on hurry up hurry up.” Your words are jumbled, but you don’t even care. You want him badly.

He practically purrs when he speaks. “All in good time.”

You want to smack him, but instead you just whimper. “Diiiirk!”

“Hush.”

You really like this side to him. This collected, dominating attitude. It’s incredibly sexy in ways you feel shouldn’t be possible. But you give in, staying quiet and enjoying it as he’s prepping you.

Soon he’s worked three fingers into you, and he’s pushing them as deep as they can go. You open your mouth to moan but instead you cry out as blinding pleasure comes over you. He’s found your prostate. “Dirk Dirk oh God Dirk please more please.” You babble embarrassingly, trying to stifle yourself by closing your lips against his shoulder and sucking hard. He shivers, and you’re satisfied with that.

He finally gives in to your whining and pulls his fingers out of you. Despite your earlier whines, you shift back a bit to try and follow them, feeling strangely empty without them. Dirk’s teeth suddenly graze over the lobe of your ear, tugging a bit, and you groan.

“Please, Dirk, please fuck me please.” You’ll smack yourself later for sounding so pathetic. He walks you back so that you’re pressed against the tiled wall, which is cold against your back, and you arch off of it, only succeeding in rubbing your dick against his, making both of you moan.

He’s finally had enough. Everything moves fast. He grabs your ass with both hands, lifting you up. You respond by wrapping your legs around his waist tightly, kissing his shoulder and murmuring tiny ‘please’s and ‘come on’s.

The wall helps to keep you steady as he shifts into a better position and then slowly lowers you onto his hard length. You groan loudly, tossing your head back. Your jaw drops a little, mouth opening. You shiver, feeling surprisingly full surprisingly fast. It’s a feeling you never thought you’d want so bad.

You tilt your head back down only to be trapped into a kiss the moment you do. You try your best to kiss back, but that’s kind of hard with a dick in your ass. If he cares, he doesn’t say a word.

Dirk gives you no warning before he thrusts his hips, making you moan loud into the kiss. Your arms are tight around his shoulders as you still try to focus on kissing him. But he’s started to thrust in a rhythm, and you find it only getting harder and harder to focus. You’re mumbling nonsense into the kiss, the pleasure blinding.

You cry out as he suddenly thrusts hard and deep, hitting your prostate in the process. He’s not shy about doing it again. You have to break the kiss to pant, words more audible now. “Oh fuck Dirk yes, yes, yes please harder, yes!” You try to kiss him again but neither of you can really focus and you just end up partially breathing into each other’s mouths from how close your lips are to each other.

You start to shove your hips back to meet his thrusts, letting go of him with one arm to bring your hand down between you and grasp your painfully hard dick. Your hand moves fast over it. You’re so close already and you want to reach that peak so badly and Dirk’s inside of you and it feels amazing. He’s panting too, indicating that he’s about to become undone as well.

You keep up your ministrations until finally you throw your head back, hitting the wall hard enough you know there’ll probably be a bump later. But that hardly registers as your orgasm is hard upon you. You cry out Dirk’s name once, then go on to repeat it quietly as you’re wrapped up in the pleasure.

You can feel it as he keeps thrusting, not quite there yet. Or maybe he did get there and is just riding it out? You’re not sure. He suddenly leans forward, squishing you against the wall, and bites at your neck.

Your eyes flutter open and you spot his orange wings shaking behind him. Little drops of water are flying off of them. Despite the moment, you can’t help but reach out and touch one, which makes him produce an absolutely beautiful sound. He thrusts hard into you once more before finally going completely still. You let your fingers run through his feathers and move to the spot between his wings. He moans against your neck, sucking and kissing at this one spot. Clearly that one spot between his wings is sensitive.

You file this information away for later.

He pulls away from his neck and looks at you, panting softly. You smile a bit, wrapping your arms around his neck and leaning close, kissing him. The water around you is starting to go cold, and you’re shivering a little. Giving a tiny sigh, you nuzzle against him, too spent for words. You just want to go curl up in bed and take a nap.

He isn’t opposed to this.


End file.
